Dish TV shares decline 6 pc

Shares of Dish TV on Monday tumbled 6 per cent after the direct-to-home operator received a demand notice from the government for a payment of Rs 4,164.05 crore, which includes licence fee and interest.

Shares of Dish TV on Monday tumbled 6 per cent after the direct-to-home operator received a demand notice from the government for a payment of Rs 4,164.05 crore, which includes licence fee and interest. The stock tanked 5.94 per cent to close at Rs 13.94 on BSE. During the day, it tumbled 9.91 per cent to Rs 13.35.

On NSE, it declined 5.76 per cent to settle at Rs 13.90. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) through a letter dated December 24, 2020, asked the Essel group firm to pay the said sum towards licence fee from the date of issuance of DTH licence till the financial year 2018-19, the company had said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

The MIB has intimated on the basis of the accounts of the company and payment made by it towards licence fee from the period from the date of issuance of DTH license till FY 2018-19, ''an amount of Rs 4,164.05 crore is payable by the company and has directed the company to remit'' the amount within a period of 15 days, the filing said. The said amount includes the license fee payable and accrued interest thereon, it added.

The company said it is studying the communication of the MIB to determine next steps. The DTH license fee matter has already been through several rounds of litigation, the final outcomes of which are yet to be argued and concluded, the company said adding it will update the exchanges in the event of any material developments that take place in relation to this.

Dish TV had received DTH licence in October 2003..